娃 (wá) is a Chinese character meaning “baby”. It is written from 女 (woman; female) and 圭 (jade ceremonial tablet), side by side, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “baby; doll”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
女 + 圭
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字·女部「娃……从女圭聲」；Unicode U+5A03 radical 38 (女)；hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：0–2 笔为女，3–8 笔为圭（3+6=9）
Memory aid
A girl (女) holding a precious jade tablet (圭) — someone small and treasured: a baby, or a doll.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 娃娃wá wababy; doll娃 = wá
- 洋娃娃yáng wá wadoll娃 = wá
Go deeper
All readings
baby; child; doll
baby; small child; doll
小孩儿；也指玩偶。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 娃娃wá wababy; doll娃 = wá
- 洋娃娃yáng wá wadoll娃 = wá
Sound component
圭 family diverged
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 娃 mean?
娃 (wá) means baby; small child; doll.
How do you pronounce 娃?
It is pronounced wá.
What parts is 娃 made of?
女 (woman; female) and 圭 (jade ceremonial tablet), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字·女部「娃……从女圭聲」；Unicode U+5A03 radical 38 (女)；hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：0–2 笔为女，3–8 笔为圭（3+6=9）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 娃 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 娃?
女. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 娃?
Common ones are 娃娃 and 洋娃娃. The reading of 娃 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.